MOVIE REVIEW

In the Shadow of Women

In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 73 minutes. Not rated (profanity, sexuality).

In the latest from director Philippe Garrel, Pierre (Stanislas Merhar) makes documentaries with the aid of adoring wife Manon (Clotilde Courau), while having an affair with Elisabeth (Lena Paugam). But when he finds out Manon is also cheating, Pierre flips out.

In short, Pierre is a sulking, humorless jerk, but the movie knows it. Tart, precise narration (voiced by the director’s son, Louis Garrel) undermines what Pierre tells himself and others.

Filmed in widescreen black-and-white that makes Paris look both decrepit and irresistible, this is a swift tale of what men and women want versus what they settle for. Garrel’s ideas on both are pretty old-fashioned. But he wraps it up with a pleasurable O. Henry-like twist, and a moment of what feels suspiciously like true love.